Dearborn, Mich. (May 23, 2019) – Films earning acclaim on the international festival circuit are among those featured at the Arab American National Museum’s (AANM) 14th Arab Film Festival (AFF), June 7-16, 2019, with screenings at the Dearborn museum, in Detroit and in Ann Arbor.

Dunya’s Day, winner, Short Film Jury Award for International Fiction and nominee, Best Short Film Grand Jury Prize, both at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and a Michigan premiere.

This year’s AFF features more than 15 films making their Michigan premieres, including Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf, directed by Susan Youssef. It’s the story of a 17-year-old outsider in Arkansas dealing with high-school tension and her jailed father, taking solace in writing poetry, fancying a boy and riding a motorcycle.

Among the cast of Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf is Detroit residentMaram Aljahmi, 14, a 9th grader at Voyageur College Preparatory High School in Detroit, who earned the role during a 2014 casting call held at AANM. She plays Jinane, the title character’s younger sister.

The AFF brings the perspective of marginalized voices to the fore. This year’s curated selection of films explores stories related to home, community and diaspora. Among the four programs of short films is a new offering designed especially for children and families, including post-screening theater-style games and crafts.

“The common denominator in all this year’s films is their depiction of reality, of daily life in the Arab world or in Arab American communities,” says festival curator Dave Serio.

“This festival presents the Arab and Arab American experience in its truest, purest form, without sensationalizing. These communities are not monolithic – they are multi-dimensional and ever changing,” Serio says.

All AFF films are subtitled in English. See film descriptions, schedule and ticket information below and at the festival’s new website,www.aanmfilmfest.org, for complete information.

AFF screenings take place at three venues: most at the Aliya Hassan Auditorium at the Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; with additional screenings at the Detroit Film Theatre at Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; and State Theatre, 233 S. State St., Ann Arbor.

The 14th Arab Film Festival is made possible in part by Saudi Aramco, Ford, and Michigan Council for Art and Cultural Affairs.

AANM is grateful for the support of these partners: Cinema Lamont; Michigan Theater; Arab American Heritage Council; Detroit Film Theatre at Detroit Institute of Arts; ACCESS’ Campaign to Take on Hate; Center for Middle Eastern & North African Studies, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; Dearborn Centennial Library; Palestinian Youth Movement; Dearborn Community Fund; and Stories Never Told.

SPECIAL PRICING FOR FILMS + FUN: A FAMILY-FRIENDLY PROGRAM, which includes crafts and theater-style games: $5 children (recommended for kids up to age 15), FREE for adult Museum Members and FREE for adult general public.

14th annual Arab Film Festival TITLES

Capernaum

Dir: Nadine Labaki

2018/Lebanon, USA/131 min./R

A gutsy, streetwise child flees his negligent parents, survives through his wits on the streets and takes care of an Ethiopian refugee and her baby son. Made with a cast of non-professionals whose lives closely parallel their roles.

A young man whose basketball teammate is killed in crossfire is captured by Israeli forces, tortured and released years later. Paraded as a hero, he feels like a fraud, unable to distinguish reality from hallucination.

Winner, Best Feature Film + Best Film at 2018 Bosphorus Film Festival

“…at its best when focusing on Ziad’s problems integrating back into the life of the community.”

–Variety

Weldi (Dear Son) MICHIGAN PREMIERE

Dir: Mohamed Ben Attia

2018/Tunisia, Belgium, France, Qatar/100 min./PG-13

A Tunisian couple’s beloved only son, preparing for his high school exams, suffers repeated migraine attacks but just as his condition improves, he disappears without a trace.

“…moves beyond tragedy and becomes a quietly absorbing tribute to the power of human resilience.”

–Hollywood Reporter

Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara MICHIGAN PREMIERE

Dir. Iara Lee

2015/Western Sahara/61 min./PG-13

Most people think that colonialism in Africa has ended. But in Western Sahara, the end of European rule gave way to a new occupation, by Morocco. More than four decades later, the Sahrawi people face arrests, torture and disappearances for demanding their independence.

A 17-year-old outsider in Arkansas dealing with high school tension and her jailed father takes solace in writing poetry, fancying a boy and riding a motorcycle.

Among the cast is Detroit residentMaram Aljahmi, 14, a 9th grader at Voyageur College Preparatory High School in Detroit, who earned the role during a 2014 casting call held at AANM. She plays Jinane, the title character’s younger sister.

The conference will be held in Chicago at the Swissôtel Chicago, 323 E Upper Wacker Dr, Chicago, Illinois 60601 from July 4 through July 7, 2019. This would be the Federation’s 83rd Annual Convention.

The Midwest Federation of American Syrian & Lebanese Clubs are a nonprofit organization. We are a non-political, social and fraternal organization which was organized to promote and preserve the ethnic heritage of its members, to advance the scholarship of its youth, and to support humanitarian causes.